HP-UX Trusted Computing Services A.01.00 Administrator's Guide

4 Basic HP-UX TCS Administration
This chapter contains information on basic HP-UX TCS administrative tasks, including security
concepts and basic TPM administration. For information on advanced administrative tasks see
Chapter 7 (page 33).
This chapter addresses the following topics:
• “TPM Ownership” (page 23)
• “Basic Key Storage” (page 23)
• “Key Authorization” (page 23)
• “Administering the TPM Password” (page 24)
• “Changing the TPM Password” (page 24)
• “Retrieving TPM Status Information” (page 24)
• “Backing Up and Restoring Keys” (page 25)
• “Restoring or Migrating the TPM” (page 25)
Basic Security Concepts
To understand the security model implicit with the TPM, you must understand the TCG concepts
of ownership, authorization, and key storage. A full discussion of these concepts is outside the
scope of this document, but they are briefly described in the following sections.
TPM Ownership
The TPM owner is allowed to perform administrative tasks. Taking ownership of the TPM
requires the owner to share a secret password with the TPM. To perform administrative tasks,
knowledge of the shared secret is proof of ownership. When the owner wants to perform an
administrative task, the owner must use the authorization protocol to prove knowledge of the
shared secret password. For more information on TPM ownership, see the Trusted Computing
Group TPM specifications at:
https://www.trustedcomputinggroup.org/specs/TPM/TCPA_Main_TCG_Architecture_v1_1b.pdf
Basic Key Storage
Some keys are stored in the TPM itself; for example, the Storage Root Key (SRK). Some keys are
stored in system persistent storage, which by default is located at /etc/opt/tcs/system.data,
or in user persistent storage, which is the .trousers/user.data file under the user's home
directory. An application can also manage keys on its own, outside of persistent storage.
Key Authorization
Some key usage requires authorization. Key authorization can be changed using the tpmadm
changepwd command if the key’s AUTHUSAGE flag is initially set to TRUE. If the key’s AUTHUSAGE
flag is set to FALSE, its password cannot be changed.
Basic TPM Administration
The tpmadm and tpmlist commands provide a wide range of suboptions, many of which are
unnecessary for day-to-day administration and use. The following sections describe only those
subcommands that are needed for basic administration. A full discussion of tpmadm and tpmlist
command options is provided in the manpages.
Basic Security Concepts 23